The Therasage Thera360 PLUS is a personal sauna featuring a unique combination of full-spectrum infrared heaters, red light therapy, a grounding mat and EMF remediation technology.
My family and I have been using the Thera360 PLUS for the past few months as part of our wellness routine, to improve muscle recovery after intense CrossFit workouts, relieve stress and tension, and support our immune system.
In this in-depth review, I’ll explain why I think it’s one of the best infrared saunas on the market, along with everything else you need to know if you’re thinking about purchasing one.
Thera360 Plus
Summary
If you want to make sauna bathing a regular part of your wellness routine but lack the space or budget for a full-size sauna, the Thera360 PLUS is an excellent choice.
We also own several other saunas, including the Sunlighten mPulse, a Redwood Outdoors steam barrel sauna, and even an infrared sauna blanket. This gives me a unique perspective to compare and contrast the Therasage Thera360 PLUS with some of the other available options.
Therasage Thera360 PLUS Review
Most of the full-spectrum infrared saunas on the market are expensive and require both significant floor space and a dedicated electrical circuit.
On the flip side, most of the personal saunas I’ve used (including the Sun Home Sauna blanket and the Sunlighten Solo) are comparatively inexpensive but offer only far-infrared radiation, which doesn’t provide the same skin health benefits as full-spectrum infrared saunas.
The Therasage Thera360 PLUS is unique because it has full-spectrum infrared heating panels and requires only minimal floor space. Combined with an affordable price tag, it’s one of the best personal saunas available.
Pros
- Affordable.
- Gets very hot.
- Offers full-spectrum infrared radiation.
- Includes red light therapy, grounding and negative ions.
- Easy to set up.
- Made from VOC-free materials with no off-gassing.
Cons
- You can’t stretch out or lie down.
- Only has space for one person at a time.
- Takes up indoor floor space (unless you fold it up after each use).
The Thera360 PLUS’ small footprint allowed us to place it in a corner of our family room, which is an area we all walk by countless times every day. This visual reminder — combined with the fact that it gets fully hot in just 15 minutes — has led us to use the sauna much more often than I had anticipated.
Even our kids have used it spontaneously several times while reading or listening to an audiobook — something that has never happened with the walk-in saunas we have in our backyard.
Maximum Temperature
Two of the most important aspects of any sauna are how much heat it generates and how much of that heat gets transferred into your body.
That’s because many of the health benefits associated with sauna bathing stem from the heat stress saunas induce. I won’t go into detail about that concept in this review, but you can read my articles about the benefits of infrared saunas and steam saunas vs. infrared saunas to learn more.
What’s important for you to understand with regard to the Thera360 PLUS is that it gets incredibly hot – certainly hot enough to cause significant heat stress and trigger most of the health benefits associated with (infrared) sauna bathing.
I must admit that I severely underestimated how hot this sauna would get when I first stepped into it. I knew I could set the temperature on the (wired) remote control to 170 degrees Fahrenheit, but I didn’t think the actual temperature would get anywhere near that figure.
For reference, I can set the temperature of my Sunlighten mPulse full-spectrum infrared sauna to 169 degrees, but the temperature inside the cabin doesn’t rise above 150. I expected comparable results from the Thera360 PLUS, but was surprised when I started sweating bullets only 15 minutes into my first session.
I suspect this sauna gets so hot so quickly because it has infrared panels on all four sides of the insulating fabric (hence the name 360). Additionally, the heat those panels produce has nowhere to go, and the cabin is relatively small, causing you to get soaked in sweat by the end of your session.
In fact, I sweat so much when using the Thera360 PLUS that it looks like I spent 30 minutes in a steam sauna.
Of course, you can set the sauna to any temperature between 100 and 170 degrees, depending on your goals.
For example, you can use lower temperatures to relax and unwind, or uncomfortably hot temperatures if you’re trying to trigger the release of heat shock proteins to support your immune system.
I usually set the sauna to the highest temperature possible, but our kids stay around 150 degrees because they’re less resilient to heat stress than I am.
Heating Panels
As noted in the previous section, the Thera360 PLUS contains full-spectrum infrared heating panels on the back and both sides of the cabin, covered by a non-toxic fabric. The two Tri-Lite panels on the front emit a combination of red and near-infrared light in the 600 and 980 nm spectrums.
One critical aspect of infrared technology is emissivity, which describes how much energy is radiated by the device.
Emissivity directly impacts an infrared device’s effectiveness, but most of the cheap infrared saunas on the market have panels with emissivity of just 85-90%. In contrast, the Thera360 PLUS has panels with emissivity of 98%.
That difference translates into a greater ability to help you get the full benefits that infrared saunas can offer.
Fabric and Frame
The outer shell of the Thera360 PLUS is made of a non-toxic, insulating fabric that features a large zipper on the front (to get in and out of the sauna) and a cutout on the top with a washable collar (for your head). Two smaller zippers on the front allow you to use your hands to manipulate the remote control, read a book or use your cell phone.
I’ve come to appreciate the two zippers on the front because they allow me to be productive while using the sauna. For example, the other day, I wanted to jump into the sauna after dinner to unwind, but our daughter was waiting for me to read her a book. The Thera360 PLUS enabled me to do both things simultaneously: enjoy a good sweat while reading with my daughter.
It’s worth noting that the outer shell is available in two colors, including black (the one we went with) and pearl white, so you can pick the color that matches your interior.
The reinforced frame of the sauna is made from Bamboo materials that provide strength without adding much weight. For reference, the actual weight of the sauna cabin is 24 pounds, making it incredibly portable and easy to move around. Therasage also includes a convenient carrying case to transport the sauna or store it when it’s not in use.
Considering the sauna’s relatively small footprint (33 inches wide, 33 inches long, and 46 inches high), we decided to leave the sauna in the corner of our family room so it’s conveniently accessible to all family members and even guests.
Sauna Interior
Besides the fabric-covered red and infrared light panels, the inside of the sauna consists of an infrared grounding mat made out of bamboo, a matching fold-up bamboo chair, a removable floor mat and a horizontal fiberglass rod that helps keep the side walls of the sauna cabin expanded (and which prevents them from folding in).
It might not look like it from the outside, but the sauna is quite roomy. I’m six feet tall and have relatively broad shoulders, but I have plenty of space in all directions without touching either side of the cabin.
The only minor inconvenience I’ve encountered is the fiberglass rod attachment that occasionally comes off the side wall when the kids pull too hard (on the wrong side). The problem is that one end of the rod is attached to the side wall using a pivoting joint while the other is placed in a U-shaped cup to hold the rod in place. You have to remove the rod from the U-shaped cup on the right side to get into the sauna; once you’re seated, you can place the rod back into the cup.
When the kids started using the sauna, they didn’t realize that one side of the rod was loose while the other side was supposed to be permanently attached to the side wall. When they pulled on the wrong side, the pivoting attachment came off, and I had to reinstall it.
That’s not a big deal, especially when you know which side of the rod is attached and which is loose. However, I’d argue that if both sides were held in place by a simple U-shaped cup, it wouldn’t negatively impact the sauna’s overall stability, and it would make it easier to manipulate the rod when getting in and out of the sauna.
Setup and Assembly
Assembling the Therea360 PLUS took less than five minutes and didn’t require any tools or special skills.
After removing the sauna from its carrying case, I unfolded it and installed the flooring consisting of the foam pad and gray felt foam topper. After that, I placed the bamboo chair and footpad (grounding mat) in the sauna and checked all the wired connections on the back of the sauna.
I noticed that the temperature sensor cable had come loose during transport, so I reseated the connector and then turned on the sauna.
To disassemble and store the sauna, you just follow the above steps in reverse.
EMFs and VOCs
Two important aspects of any gadget I introduce into our home are the amount of electromagnetic field radiation (EMFs) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) they emit. In other words, I do my best to reduce our exposure to man-made EMFs and VOCs to the extent possible.
The good news is that Therasage shares my concerns about the potential side effects of EMFs and VOCs, so they designed their sauna using materials that don’t off-gas or emit harmful EMFs.
For example, the sauna shell and interior are both made from non-toxic materials, and the device as a whole features numerous mitigating technologies woven into the fabric or built into the accessories.
These include:
- Signal-blocking materials, including infused fabrics with piezoelectric earth materials (e.g., shungite).
- Curated tourmaline gemstones that emit negative ions to remediate electromagnetic fields, extremely low frequency (ELF) magnetic fields and radio frequencies.
- The infrared floor pad doubles as a grounding mat.
The goal of these measures is to either shield you from potentially harmful waveforms or to mitigate their impact on the body.
To be honest, my expertise in grounding, negative ions and using earth materials to remediate EMFs is limited, but I’ve seen several studies that suggest shungite is effective at decreasing the damage produced by high-frequency electromagnetic radiation, and another suggesting that tourmaline can help improve leukocyte function, a critical part of the body’s immune system.
I’ve also performed some tests using a TriField EMF meter to see if there is a difference between RF levels outside and inside of the sauna. Indeed, I noticed a significant decrease in weighted RF readings inside the sauna (while the sauna was turned on) vs. on the outside. Specifically, I measured peak readings of over 1.1 mW/m2 on the outside and around 0.4 mW/m2 on the inside.
In a nutshell, the sauna appears to reduce your exposure to ambient EMFs, ELFs and RFs.
Considering that at least some of that reduction is likely due to the shielding fabric, I recommend avoiding bringing electronic devices into the sauna to prevent their signals from bouncing around inside the cabin. As a result, I started taking off my Apple Watch and fitness trackers before entering the sauna to reduce my exposure to EMFs and increase the longevity of those devices (I can’t imagine the high heat is great for their sensitive circuit boards anyway).
Maintenance
To help keep the sauna clean and soak up sweat (and toxins), I keep a clean towel over the Bamboo chair and the grounding mat. That way, most of my sweat and its toxins end up in the towel instead of on the floor or the chair.
The good news is that the heat emitted by the infrared panels kills off most pathogens, including bacteria and viruses, making regular cleaning more of a cosmetic exercise.
We wipe down the parts of the sauna we come in regular contact with or sweat on (e.g., the chair and floor mat) using a damp cloth with a non-toxic soap (HypoAir Total Clean).
Beyond that, the only part of the sauna that requires regular washing is the neck collar, which tends to collect all the sweat from your face. Fortunately, Therasage included one extra zip-out terry cloth collar, so you can use one while the other is in the wash.
Electrical Requirements
As I have noted in some of my other sauna reviews, some saunas have electrical requirements that have to be met before they can be used. For example, the Sunlighten mPulse required us to install a dedicated 240V 20A circuit, while our Redwood Outdoors barrel sauna requires a dedicated 50 amp circuit and breaker box.
The good news is you can plug the Thera360 PLUS into a regular wall outlet using the 12-foot extra-long power cord. Not only does this save you money on electrical work, it also makes the sauna’s placement more flexible, since you can position it anywhere within 12 feet of a wall outlet without requiring an extension cord.
Pricing
The Thera360 PLUS retails for $1,197, which is more expensive than a sauna blanket (they run for around $500). Still, considering you’re getting a full-spectrum infrared sauna with red light therapy, grounding and earthing features, I consider it a steal. In fact, I’m not aware of any other full-spectrum infrared sauna available at this price point.
So if you’re considering investing in a full-spectrum infrared sauna to reap all the benefits of sauna bathing, I’d seriously consider the Therasage 360 PLUS. You’d only want to purchase a larger sauna cabin (such as the Sunlighten mPulse sauna we have in our backyard) if you need room for more than one person, or just prefer a more permanent sauna structure.
If you want to give the Thera360 PLUS a try, use coupon code MKUMMER to get 15% off your purchase.
In the event that you’re not happy with your purchase, you can return the sauna within 30 days for a full refund (minus shipping).
How We Use the Thera360 PLUS
As I mentioned in the intro, we have access to several types of saunas. But I’ve noticed that the sauna we’ve been using most is the Thera360 PLUS.
I attribute that high usage to two factors:
- Convenient location. We walk by the sauna several times every day, reminding us to take advantage of it. Plus, the sauna is only a few steps from our bathroom, making it easy to clean up after a sauna session.
- Heat-up time. Our walk-in sauna cabins take 30-45 minutes to heat up. The Therasage is hot within 15 minutes, thus saving us time and requiring less planning.
The kids are also more likely to use the sauna because they enjoy being close to us. While they’re fairly independent, they’re not old enough yet to go downstairs, turn on the sauna and sit in it for 30 minutes by themselves. But they seem to enjoy doing that if they don’t have to leave the family room.
For example, our seven-year-old woke up not feeling 100% the other day, so I recommended he use the sauna.
To my surprise, he followed through and used the sauna three times, for 15-20 minutes each session. Combined with a good night’s sleep, he was back to feeling normal the next day.
The bottom line is that having the Therasage 360PLUS in our family room has dramatically increased our time in the sauna.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, the Thera360 PLUS is fully portable. So you can fold and store it in the bag it came with. That’s useful if you want to travel with your sauna or if you want to use it at various locations. I was a professional athlete in my early 20s and would have loved a portable sauna to take to competitions.
The combination of the deep penetrating heat from the full-spectrum infrared radiation, red light panels, grounding, earthing and negative ion release offers a variety of health benefits, including decreased inflammation, increased calorie burn (weight loss), improved sleep, detoxification (through profuse sweating), increased nitric oxide production and better immune support. For more information on the subject, check out my article about the top health benefits of infrared saunas.
If you want to treat your entire body (including your face) with the Thera360 PLUS, you can purchase the optional floor chair and use it instead of the bamboo chair the sauna comes with. The floor chair effectively lets you sit comfortably on the sauna floor, ensuring your entire body is inside.
After trying both types of devices, I think the Thera360 PLUS offers significantly more benefits than an infrared sauna blanket. In fact, comparing a full-spectrum infrared sauna like the 360 PLUS with an infrared sauna blanket is apples to oranges; while both sauna types use infrared radiation and emit heat, they do so in completely different ways.
As my review of the Sun Home Sauna Blanket explained, “Sauna blankets emit far less infrared radiation than traditional infrared saunas. Instead, sauna blankets use heat-coated wires to create extremely hot surfaces that make you sweat. That type of heat transfer is called conduction.”
In contrast, the infrared heaters in the Thera360 PLUS emit radiant heat, which is much more powerful and provides greater health benefits than the infrared radiation emitted by sauna blankets.
The Thera360 PLUS also offers features you won’t find in sauna blankets, including red light therapy, grounding and EMF remediation.
Most infrared saunas on the market emit only far-infrared radiation, which limits their effectiveness for improving skin health and reducing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. More importantly, walk-in sauna cabins require significant space that not everyone has.
Additionally, infrared and steam sauna cabins (if they have an electrical heater) require dedicated power circuits that can add a few hundred dollars to a sauna cabin’s already high purchase price.
Steam saunas, while providing additional health benefits for those who suffer from respiratory issues, produce a lot of humidity, which requires proper ventilation to avoid the build-up of mold and mildew.
The big advantage of walk-in sauna cabins (depending on their size) is that they often offer space for multiple people. My wife and I frequently jump into the sauna to catch up and relax together. A personal sauna doesn’t offer the same opportunity.
On the flip side, the Thera360 PLUS offers not only all the health benefits of a larger full-spectrum infrared sauna but it also includes additional features such as red light therapy, grounding and negative ions.
The features, reasonable space requirements, and the affordable price tag make the 360 PLUS an excellent option for those who want to make sauna bathing a regular part of their wellness routine.
Yes, the Thera360 PLUS contains high-quality infrared heaters with 98% emissivity. That’s comparable to premium full-spectrum infrared sauna cabins, such as our backyard’s Sunlighten mPulse sauna.
Using the remote control, you can set the session time in 10-minute increments for a maximum of 90 minutes. While I would never want to spend 90 minutes in a sauna, the extended timer is convenient if I want to preheat the sauna while taking the dog for a walk. In other words, I can take my time walking the dog and get in before the sauna turns off.
Emerging evidence suggests that earthing or grounding helps improve cellular communication, which leads to a host of downstream benefits including reduced stress and inflammation, improved sleep, lower cortisol levels, increased heart rate variability, improved blood coagulation and more. While I haven’t dug into the nitty-gritty of grounding yet, I practice it daily, even outside the sauna, by walking barefoot in our backyard.
There could be several reasons why you’re not sleeping well, such as a disturbed circadian rhythm or the consumption of stimulants too close to bedtime. However, sauna bathing before bedtime has been shown to improve sleep because the high heat causes your body to reduce its core temperature (as part of its attempt to cool down) after you get out of the sauna. The decrease in core temperature helps with falling asleep quicker and spending more time in deep sleep.
Yes, sauna bathing has been shown to decrease inflammation (especially if the inflammation was caused by an injury or overexertion) by increasing oxygenated blood flow. If you suffer from chronic inflammation caused by dietary factors, I highly recommend modifying your diet and leveraging sauna bathing. If you don’t fix the root cause of your inflammation, optimal health will be difficult to achieve.
Yes, Therasage offers a 30-day money-back guarantee. To avoid the 15% restocking fee, you must adhere to the following guidelines when returning the sauna: return the sauna in its original box, and include the original receipt with the date of purchase. The sauna must be received in “like new” condition; must include all original packaging, manuals and accessories; and must be shipped with signature confirmation.
In addition to the money-back guarantee, Therasage offers a two-year full manufacturer’s warranty.
Therasage 360 PLUS Review: Summary and Final Verdict
If you want to make sauna bathing a regular part of your wellness routine but don’t have the space or budget for a full-size sauna cabin, the Therasage Thera360 PLUS is an excellent choice. It offers the health benefits of much larger (and more expensive) saunas, costs a fraction of the price, and comes with additional features you won’t find in other saunas.
We’ve been using the Thera360 PLUS for the past few months and love it. To our surprise, even the kids have used it independently – something we’ve never seen them do with our other saunas.
If you have any questions about the Thera360 PLUS, how it compares to our other saunas, or the benefits of infrared saunas in general, let me know in the comments!
Michael is a healthy living enthusiast and CrossFit athlete whose goal is to help people achieve optimal health by bridging the gap between ancestral living and the demands of modern society.
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Hi Michael in our parts list, it describes the foot pad as a “infrared HEATED bamboo style foot pad” It has a wire connected that goes to the back but the foot pad doesn’t heat up. Is this a misprint or is the foot pad supposed to heat up?
Thank you
Hey David,
the foot mat is used for grounding/earthing and emits near-infrared light to improve microcirculation. In other words, it doesn’t get warm. Older versions of the mat emitted far-infrared light but customers didn’t like the heat and so the company switched to NIR.
Ok thank you so much for the clarification, I really do appreciate it.
You got it!
Michael if I may ask a follow-up question. You said that the mat doesn’t get warm but is it supposed to light up?
Hey David,
nope, it doesn’t light up. Near-infrared is invisible light and there is no red light in the mat!
Thanks again sir
I have a son with Lyme disease who has been told he should use a far infrared sauna daily for detoxing. I have been debating between the Sunlighten Solo Dome and Thersage 360, so I was happy to find your reviews. He lives in an apartment, age 25, 6′ 2, 180. Based on your experience with each, do you feel one was better at heating up your core temperature, and was there a big difference in the EMF ranges? I think he would prefer the Thersage 360, where he can watch TV or read while detoxing if they’re very similar.
I really appreciate your feedback and thoughts. THANK YOU!
Hey Courtney,
you can’t go wrong with either of the two but I’d go with the Therasage considering its smaller footprint and the extra benefits you’re getting (full spectrum, red light, earthing…).
Hope that helps!
That helps! Thank you.
Thank you for the great review, Michael! I am looking at this for a family Christmas gift this year.
We don’t have a ton of extra space but we do have a nice screen in patio. I was thinking we could set it up out there to use and then break it down but I’m curious if it is really that simple or a set up? My concern would be that we don’t end up using it as often if we have to set it up each time but if it’s pretty simple I don’t think that would matter.
What do you think? Thank you!
Hey Vinnie,
Setting it up and breaking it down is relatively quick and easy but that doesn’t guarantee it won’t get old, depending on how often you intend on using the sauna.
So it depends a bit on your tolerance. For some people putting the cap on their toothpaste twice a day is too much :)
Cheers,
Michael